In this article, Antoaneta Dimitrova and others explore what motivates protesters in Central and Eastern Europe.

In this article, Seda Gürkan, Özlem Atikcan and George Christou examine how EU institutions responded to Turkey’s democratic decline between 2014 and 2024, analysing how conditionality was framed and applied by the European Commission, European Parliament and European Council.

Debate

This book analyses the emergence of modern parties in nineteenth-century Europe and explores their connection with the slowly developing institution of democracy.

On the brink of war, what influences decision makers to attack another country? Using innovative theoretical angles, Femke E. Bakker explores whether the basic assumptions of democratic peace theory are indeed correct. She stresses the microfoundations of conflict, questioning the assumptions on…

The starting hypothesis of the project is that secrecy is not always inimical to democratic governance as conventional wisdom has it.

Although many studies have addressed democracy in education around the world, so far research on democratic education in the context of communist society has been scarce. In the current study, we aim to clarify the concept of democratic value and its manifestation in Vietnam’s schools. In addition,…

The future of Europe as a community of democratic states is deeply uncertain. The European Union, founded to promote ‘ever closer’ integration, aims nominally for peaceful, prosperous cooperation. But this ideal has been battered by a series of bruising crises, and now by war.

This article studies the perceived legitimacy of EU enforcement actions.

Terrorism destabilizes governments, undermines civil society, threatens social and economic development, endangers democracy, and directly impacts human rights. The extraordinary events on 9/11 turned counterterrorism into a global governance project. The global collaboration is unprecedented with traditional…

Is criminal disenfranchisement compatible with a democratic political order? This article considers this question in light of a recently developed view that criminal disenfranchisement is justified because it expresses our commitment to democratic values.

What is the impact of Indonesia’s democratization process on everyday state-citizen relations?

This project analyses the democratic consequences of increasing decentralization and regionalization in European countries. Through an original approach that foregrounds informal political dynamics, it studies the functioning of democracy in subnational units, and investigates the effects of ever more…

Is there a causal mechanism underlying the decision to attack another country when on the brink of war? If so, does this mechanism differ between regime-types? Political scientist Femke Bakker (Leiden University) addresses this question from a political psychological and comparative perspective and…

Political scientist Tom Theuns (Leiden University) has been awarded a Veni grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This means that he is recognised as a promising researcher and that he will receive support to develop his ideas further for a period of three years. Theuns will focus on the role…

Explore the MSc Democracy and Representation at Leiden University: examine challenges facing modern democracies—populism, representation, media influence—and enhance your analytical skills.

Discover the MSc Democracy and Representation at Leiden University: a structured and intensive programme focusing on democratic challenges like populism and polarization, with electives, research thesis, and small-group teaching.

How has democracy’s decline affected law making processes, enabling powerful stakeholders’ influence while minimalizing the protection of public interest and the environment?

Democratic citizenship refers to the capacity and willingness of citizens to actively influence the functioning of state institutions. While considered a vital correlate of democratization and the rule of law, its largely western-oriented literature rarely studies the forms of democratic citizenship…

The Chair Democratic Representation in the Kingdom focuses on the political relations between the ‘European’ Netherlands and the six Caribbean islands in the Kingdom; so-called Kingdom Relations. Professor Wouter Veenendaal investigates the quality of democratic representation in the Kingdom, both within…

This dissertation aims to provide a critical view of Vietnamese secondary school stakeholders’ awareness of democratic education regarding the core educational democratic values and democratic acts within either the ‘physical’ or digital learning environment.

On 15 February 2022, Morshed Mannan defended the thesis 'The Emergence of Democratic Firms in the Platform Economy: Drivers, Obstacles, and the Path Ahead'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. I.S. Wuisman and Prof. J.A.A. Adriaanse.

This research cluster is a part of the Institute of Political Science’s research programme ‘Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviour’. Its members focus on the democratic role of citizens and the representative links between voters and politicians.

The research group on Diplomacy and Global Affairs studies international diplomacy, international organisation, global, transnational, multi-level and comparative governance.

Does the political context (e.g., democracy vs. authoritarianism) influence what makes people perceive authorities as legitimate?

In theory, states can gain security by acquiring internal arms or external allies. Yet the empirical literature offers mixed findings: some studies find arms and allies to be substitutes, while others find them to be complements. Political scientists Matthew Digiuseppe (Leiden University) and Paul Poast…

Governance is a complex puzzle of organisations, people and divergent interests. Academic research in this field furthers our knowledge of the role of public administrators, of different organisational structures, of the people who work at such organisations and of how these organisations implement…

On July 8 and 9, 2022, Leiden University hosted the second conference of the research group on Institutions for Conflict Resolution, in collaboration with Radboud University Nijmegen and Utrecht University.

In this research note, Van der Does & Kantorowicz aruge that citizens that tend to experience political exclusion are often more supportive of direct and participatory forms of decision-making.

In recent years, the question why citizens (do not) support democratic innovations has attracted increasing academic attention. In this research note, Van Der Does & Kantorowicz for the first time empirically verify what drives citizens’ instrumental considerations in their evaluation of a DI.

Research on this theme concerns the legitimacy and effectiveness of Europe’s institutional order in the face of public alienation and normative contestation.

This timely and engaging book examines the rise of populism across the globe. Combining insights from linguistics, argumentation theory, rhetoric, legal theory and political theory it offers a fully integrated characterization of the form and content of populist discourse.

On 9 January 2019, Willem van der Muur defended his thesis 'Land rights and the forces of adat in democratizing Indonesia'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. A.W. Bedner and Prof. dr. J.M. Otto.

On 10 December 2024, the European Parliament played host to an insightful presentation of ‘Protecting Democracy in Europe: Pluralism, Autocracy, and the Future of the EU’, the new book by Tom Theuns, Assistant Professor at Leiden University. Hosted by MEP Thijs Reuten (PvdA/S&D) and his team, the event…

The project examines the political conflict in the Red River Valley of Louisiana between the majority-black Republican Party and the overwhelmingly white Democratic Party by studying the composition and actions of each party.

This thesis attempts to interrogate post-1991-2015 political development in Ethiopia, focusing on the political discourses espoused by the government and opposition, using the discourse analysis method and securitization theory.

Since its inception, a central preoccupation of and for the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been the nature of its relationship to national jurisdictions. Complementarity—the idea that the Court is intended to supplement, not supplant, national jurisdictions—has been the dominant juridical logic…

Special Issue Workshop Res Publica

The CEES Centre regularly hosts (guest) lectures, roundtables, and film screenings.

Having encountered a series of shocks that pose an existential threat to our livelihoods, our societies have become increasingly polarized.

Transparency is seen as an important value for democratic government policy. Does that mean that we should do away with state secrets, such as confidential information involving intelligence agencies and political deals made behind closed doors? Political philosopher and ERC grant recipient Dorota Mokrosinska…

On June 16, 2025, the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University hosted a panel debate about the ongoing mass student-led protests in Serbia. The protests have shaken the increasingly illiberal regime in Serbia to its core and have grown into the largest student protests in Europe since 196…

This thesis presents a detailed description of the phonology, the tone system and the grammar of Liko, a Bantu language spoken by about 70,000 people in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides numerous examples.

The debate on migration and criminalisation concerns everyone from citizens and policymakers to academics. The Crimmigration in an Age of Authoritarian Drift conference in Leiden in July aims to offer new insights and encourage collaboration. Artists are playing a key role.

The Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of Leiden University has published a collection of research essays on the separation of powers. This collection addresses the main question of whether the historically developed combination of concepts of democratic legitimacy and the separation…